A technology is known in which an overhead view image of the surroundings of a vehicle being driven is created and displayed with the aim of displaying, in an easy-to-understand manner, the pedestrians or the bicycles present behind distant obstacles such as other vehicles or buildings and supporting safe driving of the target vehicle. For example, overhead view images of the surroundings of the target vehicle are created using images taken by an in-vehicle camera mounted on the target vehicle, using images taken by in-vehicle cameras mounted on other vehicles, and using images taken by on-street imaging devices. As a result, the distant obstacles can be displayed with a high degree of accuracy.
In the conventional technology, an overhead view image is generated by deforming various images in tune with the shape of the overhead view image. For that reason, by looking at a wide-area overhead view image created according to the conventional technology, it is difficult for a driver to instantly recognize the presence and the positions of obstacles (pedestrians or bicycles) having a complex shape due to deformation.